Paul Howard Gordon is a composer of popular songs and music for the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Career

Gordon composed the music and lyrics for the stage musical ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' which ran on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 2000–2001, for which he received a nomination for the

Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical theatre, musical or Play (theatre), play in that year. The score consists of music and/or lyrics. To be ...

. The musical was later produced by TheatreWorks at the

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts is located in downtown Mountain View, California, Mountain View, California. It is operated by the City of Mountain View and hosts a variety of art events. Its home theatre companies include Thea ...

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

, in 2003. Of this production, the ''talkinbroadway.com'' reviewer wrote: "The music of Paul Gordon fits this production like a glove, with unbroken strings of music and lyrics that give the audience the mood of the story." The ''Wall Street Journal'' noted the musical has "a lyrical score". His musical ''Emma'' played an engagement at the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

(San Diego, California) in 2011. The stage musical ''The Front'', for which Gordon wrote the music and lyrics with

Jay Gruska Jay Gruska (; born April 23, 1952) is an American songwriter and composer best known for his film and television scoring, and for writing hit songs for a variety of artists. He has composed musical scores for dozens of TV dramas, with over 500 ...

, had a reading at the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...

in April 2007, and private industry readings in 2008. He composed the music and lyrics for the stage musical '' Daddy Long Legs'' with the book and direction by John Caird, which premiered at the Rubicon Theatre Company,

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

in October 2009 and then had an engagement with TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts from January through February 2010.John Caird's DADDY LONG LEGS Gets TheatreWorks Run, 1/23 - 2/14"
broadwayworld.com, January 23, 2010 In progress is a musical entitled ''Little Miss Scrooge'', which had a workshop production at the Rubicon Theatre in 2013."'Jane Eyre' Composer, Paul Gordon & Stars at Joe's Pub 10/15"
broadwayworld.com, October 1, 2007 A concert of Gordon's music played at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette St ...

(New York City) in 2007, and featured his works from stage musicals performed by

Marla Schaffel Marla Schaffel is an American actress, especially in musical theatre, noted for her award winning performance in the title role in the musical adaptation of ''Jane Eyre''. Personal life Schaffel was raised in Miami, Florida,

, Brian D'Arcy James and others. Gordon has written popular songs, including the "#1 songs: " Next Time I Fall" recorded by

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His c ...

and

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

, and " Friends and Lovers," which was #1 on both pop and country charts." He has also written for films (including ''

Ghostbusters II ''GhostbustersII'' is a 1989 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis ...

'') and television. Gordon's new musical adaptation of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' will receive its world premiere in December 2019 presented by TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley) at the Lucie Stern Theatre in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

Musical scores

* ''Greetings from Venice Beach'' (1993) * ''

'' (1995) * '' Emma'' (2006) * ''The Front''; music also by Jay Gruska * '' Daddy Long Legs'' (2009) * ''Sense & Sensibility'' (2015) * ''Pride & Prejudice'' (2018)

Awards and nominations

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

* 2001: Nominated for Best Original Score for the original Broadway production of "Jane Eyre", which was also nominated for Best Musical. Bay Area Critics Circle Awards *2007: Won the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Original Script for "Emma" at TheatreWorks

Ovation Awards The Ovation Awards are a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They are given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Winne ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Won the award for Lyrics/Music for an Original Musical for the Rubicon Theatre Company production of "Daddy Long Legs" Jeff Awards *2015: Won the award for New Work—Musical for “Sense and Sensibility” at the

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a non-profit, professional theater company located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Its more than six hundred annual performances performed 48 weeks of the year include its critically acclaimed Shakespeare s ...

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20141218055247/http://paulgordonmusic.com/ Official site *
New Musical Theatre: bioBack to the 80s: Interview with songwriter/composer Paul Gordon - Kickin' it Old SchoolInternet Movie Database listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Paul American musical theatre composers American male songwriters Broadway composers and lyricists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)